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<div class="tomby">
<p>
In this essay (may be better to say few notes on a given topic) I will be speaking
about mental processes so I will not define notions but I will be using only
metaphors or let say mental tools/crutches (ve smyslu opora) to handle notions
that I will be speaking about. This it not final opinion or theory but just my
current state of mind about this approach (as you can see later state of this
approach is in phase before notions is defined - pre-notional state of approach
- I will speak a little bit about it later)! Some pages that you will see are
not static web pages but rather dynamic and interactive. I will explain why a
little bit later. I must say once more that this essay is not as something is
but beginning of discussions (hope). 
</p>

<p>
Personal comment will be distinguished by boxes with different colors of
background.
<div class="tomby">
Tomby's comments
</div>
<div class="andrew">
Andrew's comments
</div>
<div class="zh">
ZH's comments
</div>
<div class="jiri">
Jiri's comments
</div>
</p>

<h3>Whily approach</h3>

<h4>Here and Now (HAN)</h4> 

<p>
We need to take into account current/present state of given
individual/person. We mean by 'current' (it is space-temporal specification) on
specific place (for given person it is <b>'HERE'</b>) where person is in
specific time (for given person it is <b>'NOW'</b>). So we can say that it is
specific moment in life of given person.  We will call state of person in this
specific moment <b>"Here and Now" (HAN)</b>. Special significance will have
"Here and Now" that is present (now) (<b>PRE-HAN</b>). So we can describe
personal past life like a trace of present HANs.
</p>

<p>
We didn't speak about how to describe the state of person or what it is. It is
not clear what to take into account to describe overall state of given
person. So, we don't want to describe whole state of given person. We want to
describe only small part of it. Specifically in this essay we will be speaking
only about small part of state of mental processes that we can describe by
classical languages (spoken/written Czech, English ....) and controlled
languages/approaches (languages/approaches where we know "which processes"/what
we take into account - math, physics, ...). If you want to know more about
controlled languages see <a href="tao-sled.html">HERE</a>.
</p>

<div class="andrew">
The structure of thought to my mind is intricately linked to that of time,
so that thinking about the structure of time is to think about the
experience of having a mind.
</div>

<h4>Whiles</h4> 
<p>
We will focus on mental processes and their descriptions. We will try to use HAN
notion to describe some basic properties of mental processes or state of mental
processes. We will target on this parts of mental processes that we can perceive
or that we can connect (of cause through some hypotheses/metaphors/mental
crutches) to some basic simulations of neuronal tissue. If we imagine progress
of present HAN through the time in personal mind we can connect it to something
like Stream of Consciousness. For our purposes we will introduce new
notion <b>"HAN Stream"</b> that describes it (for sure not to mix it with
classical stream of consciousness because as can be seen the meaning is slightly
different). As we can see HAN Stream is very raw notion without any
structure. So we need some refinement of it. We will divide HAN stream to some
structured parts. Structure is done mainly by similarity (most obvious
relationship (it seems that it does our brain) - of cause we can take another type
of relationship between HANs but we will not speak about them - we are not doing
math of HANs (now) ;) of present HANs that goes in sequence ("continuous" part)
(this similarity is done by personal mind, it depends on many current and past
factors - development of mind and neuronal tissue). We will call <b>"whiles"</b>
this similar continuous parts in HAN stream (see Fig 1.).
</p>

<table align="center">
<tr>
<td align="center"><img width="800" height="400" src="tat.gif"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Figure 1. Red box represents present HAN (PRE-HAN)</td>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
As we can see whiles give us possibility to make a meaning of them. As our brain
is capable to find similarity not only in HANs of a while (sequence of HANs near
in time) but it is capable to find similarity with whiles that we have had in
past (sometimes we name this process as memory :) (we can imagine it as
similarity in time behavior of some part of neuronal net - "space similarity").
As we want to give meaning of whiles we are introducing structure into whiles
(structure can be pretty different not only between different peoples but
between different whiles - it depends on overall history of HANs that influenced
our mind and significance that we gave to different whiles).  One of
possibilities how to sort whiles is by how much given while was influenced our
life (mental life - mind). We will have special interest in whiles we have had
that were influenced us very strongly. This whiles that we were experienced
intensively/hardly/deeply we (peoples) call <b>erlebnis (German)/zazitek
(Czech)/enliveness</b> (newly invented word to English - extension of
experience) (everybody know it - it is for example illumination or the aha
effect (interpretation of aha effect can be for example as raise of new
structure in whiles)). If we will think a little bit about it we can gather that
erlebnis is one of basis of human creative thinking. How erlebnis happens ? Is
it good for myself to prolong my erlebnises ? What is happening during
erlebnis in my head ? (We will say a little bit more about
it <a href="zazitek.html">HERE</a>).
</p>

<div class="andrew">
<p>
It begins the structuring of
here-and-now experience into a hierarchy of here-and-nows and "whiles", and
"tracks":
<ul>
<li>HAN
<li>While (variable length, possibly disconnected?),
<li>Whiles related by similarity, contrast,...
    significance/memorability of a While (cf. epiphany) or Series of whiles (cf.
    Erlebnis) usually arises from its place among other Whiles.</li>
<li>Context/tracks
</ul>
</p>

<p>
Remark: although the past-present-future structure of time (and the metaphor
of flow or passage of time) suggest a linear progression as a first
approximation, certain features of experiencing time suggest a different
topological structure - and not just one either - indeed different patches
of time may have different shapes (the image in my mind is seaweed whose
fronds are moving about and making different configurations and shapes and
moving at different rates - the experiencing mind can be analyses into
simultaneous HANs, occuring in different fronds, related to each other in
different ways, according to relative shape and position of fronds in which
located - the structure/rhythm of experience is changing in time). The
experiencing mind (memory-attention-expectation) relies on grasping things
not at a point in time (on a line) but with a simultaneity of looking
forward and backward that implies a different structure. Only when one
attends to a HAN as a moment does it collapse into a line of successive HANs
- i.e. it is a product of observation and analysis that we have this linear
image of time as one can only attend to "one thing at a time".
</p>

<div class="tomby">
A few notes to HAN idea background: 
<ul>
<li> The HAN idea tries to describe individual mind "individual I/Ich". Here and Now
  for given person means his or her own mind (he or she exists only on one place
  and once upon a time (maybe ;)). But not only mind ...
<li> The HAN idea tries to connect individual physiological state (neuronal nets
  - at least models of NN) with individual mental/mind state (If we suppose that
  neuronal net activity is somehow connected to mental state). In this sense is
  HAN "objective notion" (in a physical sense). HAN is similar concept as a mass
  point in physics (or better state of mass point). So in this sense it is
  "continuous linear notion" (time state description).
<li> HAN is used for a description of what we can perceive on given place at given
  time.
<li> We can not experience HAN because it is only a mental crutch. 
</ul>

A few notes to while idea background:
<ul>
<li> Idea of whiles try to divide HAN stream to some similar parts (but don't
  take similarity to mathematically). While happens in some time (physical)
  interval (because it is part of HAN stream).
<li> It is very dynamic  notion.
<li> While can be for us that we look at some interesting thing and forget it or
  it can be short seminar on one topics. 
<li> When we want to work with concept of whiles we need to structure them. So
  structure can be very rich and not all part need to be similar. For example
  you are on some mathematical seminar and talking about some proof but at some
  time and place you see nice girl walking around. Now we take as while whole
  seminar and you see that during this while your mind was working on many
  different ideas even in same time. 
<li> So in the sense of structure of thoughts that pass throught your mind in a
  while is while highly non linear. But in sense of HAN stream part it is linear
  (because of the connection with NN).
</ul>
</div>

</div>

<h4>Tracks</h4>
<p>
We will do next big jump. We will be speaking about some generic structures of
whiles that will help us a little bit handle mental processes features when we
are thinking. We said that we are structuring our whiles (consciously or
unconsciously). So there is a natural structure of whiles, when we are
thinking, by let say topics or areas or fields where are our thoughts in given
while. We will refine this topics/areas/fields whiles by
characteristics <b>"what we take into account when we were thinking about X
(topics/areas/fields ....)"</b>. We will be speaking about this categories of
equivalence ("We take into account the same when we were thinking about X") as
<b>tracks</b> (as we can see it is similar to contexts). You can see that we can put
some "X" into more tracks. We will extend natural structure that we said about
traces. We will characterize while by tracks into which belongs. When we can
characterize someone (mostly ourselves) that he/she/we is/are aware/s about what
he/she/we is/are taking into account in given while (we can put it into more
tracks) we will say that he/she/we is/are using multiple-trace thinking (see Fig
2/). On the other hand when someone is not aware about "what he/she/we take/s
into account" we will be speaking about one-trace thinking. I will give you few
examples where we can use tracks:
<ul>
 <li> Model of Jokes - We think that we are in one track and point show us that
  we are in another track.
 <li> Theoretical whatsoever (natural sciences) - Theory is one track (it is
  completely in our head), nature is other track (it is entirely
  outside). Interaction between this two tracks is theoretical whatsoever.
 <li> Aha effect - current interactions of more different tracks.
</ul>
</p>

<table align="center">
<tr>
<td align="center"><img width="800" height="400" src="tracks.gif"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center">Figure 2. Red box represents present while. Dots
  represent to which tracks while belongs.</td>
</tr>
</table>

<div class="andrew">
<p>
This also applies to "tracks" (which are like a projection of a
higher-dimensional shape onto a one-dimensional axis) - the simplification
of naming a track as an entity achieves much with regard to tieing together
different whiles and to account for leaping from one track to another in
jokes, but the multifarious context (what we take into account when we were
thinking about X) has a complexity not wholly characterized by some property
such as "this is track A" or a cluster of such tracks. On the other hand,
one may enrich the structure of tracks - for example, taking from music the
notion of counterpoint, tracks may relate to each other and their relative
movement itself produce meaning. It will be interesting to see how much can
be captured of the experience of mind from putting structures on Whiles and
Tracks.
</p>
<p>
Simple imitation of surface features of the mind may not produce anything
more than something that appears to be a mind but does not create ideas,
synthesize thoughts in a nontrivial way, make lateral leaps (across tracks).
Often when I lie awake early in the morning of a sleepless night I try to
think about something, but find that my mind "flits about" too much as to
make any progression of thought (I suppose this is why one is advised to
count sheep as the progression is already there to follow) - it seems
principally due to the excessive "fragmentation" of Whiles, but I think such
questions might be worth dwelling on further as they will give case studies
of the appearance of a well-functioning mind but in fact one that is going
nowhere! i.e. observing such a mind from outside to all appearance looks
like a profitably thinking mind -  but in fact it is just circling about at
an effective standstill. The "tieing together" with tracks also has
something to do with creative thought - the state of mind I describe
consists of just loose ends. So in fact this example of "white noise"
thought is accounted for quite well by the initial HAN/Whiles/Tracks model
that you have put on here !
</p>

<div class="tomby">
A few notes to tracks:
<ul>
<li> Track is mainly characterized by "we are taking into account same
  things/thoughts" (this is not obvious assumption - it gives you impulse to
  think about what you ware exactly take into account ;). But of cause in our
  mind most thoughts have many connections.
<li> Tracks are highly interconnected. You can take as track mathematics (for
  example by "we are taking into account classes of sentecences of same type")
  or only numbers (even numbers you can highly structure for example by (finger
  counting, apples and spears, strokes, Neumann set definition ...))
<li> Multi-jumping through structure of tracks and theirs interactions can make
  new tracks. 
<li> Meaning of joke model was that we are taking into account something (so it's
  track) and at the point we see that it was meant that we must take into account
  something different (another tracks). So its multiple-track model and its
  interaction. It not characterize the whole phenomenon of joke but some
  interesting parts. You will see in next section association point of view. 
</ul>
</div>
</div>

<h4>Bushy tails</h4> 

<div class="andrew">
<p>
How about dreams though? It is perhaps a significant aspect of dreams that
time often has a different tempo, rhythm, shape,.. to waking thoughts
What happens when we describe the action of dreams in terms of HANs, whiles,
tracks and their structure  - what is it that makes (most) dreams not give
_productive_ creative thoughts - dreams are of course very creative - only
from a utilitarian perspective one would prefer a VCM that thinks than one
that dreams...
</p>
<div class="tomby">
I must finish this part about dynamical assotional model that will partially
answer you.
</div>
</div>

Coming soon.
<a href="herbart.html">Herbart's boye model</a>


<h4>Mind Oriented Web</h4>
Coming soon.
<ul>
<li><a href="mow.html">Mind Oriented Web</a>
<li><a href="vcm.html">VCM</a>
</ul>

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